Former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher returning to MLB after dominant two years in Japan

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Anthony Kay is expected to come back to MLB after two seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

Kay, 30, was the Mets' first-round draft pick in 2016. He was traded to the Blue Jays in 2019 as part of the deal that sent Marcus Stroman to New York.

The Long Island native would debut later that year and spend four seasons in Toronto, maxing out at 33 2/3 innings in 2021.

He then had brief stints with the Cubs and Mets in 2023, and he spent about two weeks with the Athletics following the 2023 campaign; the A's claimed him off waivers in late October, but he elected free agency after they removed him from their 40-man roster in early November.

Altogether, Kay pitched to a 5.59 ERA in 85 1/3 big-league innings from 2019-23, posting a 22.4% strikeout rate and a 12.0% walk rate.

He has seen better results in Japan in each of the past two years. In 2024, Kay posted a 3.42 ERA in 136 2/3 innings for the Bay Stars while striking out 20.2% of hitters and walking 9.0%.

His 0.40 home runs allowed per nine innings (HR/9) was especially impressive.

Only six Central League pitchers (min. 100 IP) gave up home runs at a lower rate.

At the end of the year, Kay helped the BayStars to their first Japan Series victory since 1998, pitching seven scoreless innings and collecting the win in Game 4.

His first season in NPB was no doubt a success. With that said, it's worth keeping in mind the lower run-scoring environment in Japan; the league average ERA in the Central League in 2024 was 2.88, well below Kay's 3.42 mark.

However, in 2025, his numbers spoke for themselves. He deployed a deep and diverse arsenal to post a 1.74 ERA in 155 innings, cutting his walk rate to 6.8%.

The southpaw led all NPB starting pitchers with a 21.9% strikeout rate, while his ERA ranked second, and his 0.46 HR/9 was tied for fourth. He wasn't just solid; he was dominant.

Following such a strong season, it makes sense that Kay would look to return to Major League Baseball.

He may not have garnered much attention on the open market two years ago, but he's bound to have more suitors now after proving he could thrive as a starting pitcher against high-level competition.